Disclaimer: Once again, I still don't own anything, but Dani and I have grown more attached, so I'm beginning to think of her as mine.
1250 ZULU
DRIVING TO DANI'S HOTEL
GEORGETOWN
"A sister," Mac whispered to herself as she pulled out of her apartment's garage the next morning. It had been nearly twenty-four hours since Dani had delivered the startling news, but it still hadn't sunk in. The newfound sisters had spent the night together talking and laughing. Exhaustion took over just after midnight and Dani opted to sleep on a futon in Mac's study over driving the couple miles to her hotel.
In the morning, Mac woke up for her morning run and asked Dani if she wanted to join her. Dani agreed, but when Mac told her she generally ran about fifteen miles, Dani decided to run only the five miles to her hotel to get her stuff and that Mac could do the rest of her run alone. The pair set off minutes liter with Dani dressed in an old USMC t-shirt belonging to Mac. They ran in compatible silence, content to here only their feet hitting the ground until they reached the hotel. From there, Dani went in to shower and pack her things and Mac continued her run, agreeing to pick up her sister in an hour and a half.
Mac turned into the hotel's entrance to see Dani outside waiting. Dressed in a light tan skirt and coordinating sleeveless sweater stripped in white with her hair tied back in a low ponytail, Dani exuded a self confidence that Mac struggled through basic training to gain. She eased her car to a stop and rolled down the passenger side window, "Good morning."
"Good morning," Dani smiled back.
"The trunk is unlocked," she gestured to the back of the SUV.
"Thanks," Dani went around back to put her suitcase in the trunk. They had agreed that for the remainder of Dani's visit that she would stay with Mac, so she had packed up her things and checked out of the hotel. Slamming the trunk closed, she then climbed in to the car next to Mac, "How was the rest of your run?"
"Nice," she checked that Dani had buckled her seatbelt and pulled back onto the street.
"Was that your suitcase in the trunk?"
"Yeah."
"Are you going somewhere?"
"No, but a Marine is always prepared."
"Like a boy scout?"
"Yeah, only better," Mac laughed, "I'm sorry about dragging you to work with me again."
"Don't worry about it. JAG headquarters beats sitting around the hotel room, and I can be on the prowl for hot sailors," she rubbed her hands together mischievously.
"Well if you get tired of that you can always take me car and go sightseeing."
"I suppose that would work too, but I'll do my sightseeing inside."
Within a few minutes, they pulled into JAG headquarters and parked in the lot. As they got out of the car, Mac watched Dani take off her white-framed sunglasses and slip them into her matching purse and couldn't help but smirk at her younger sister's perfect accessories.
"Who's that?" Dani pointed to the flashy red convertible that had just pulled into the lot.
"That would be Commander Rabb."
"Ooo!" Dani grinned and Mac elbowed her gently, "What?"
"Morning Mac, Dani," Harm greeted, getting out of the car and putting on his cover.
"Good morning," Mac greeted in return, ignoring Dani's previous innocent question.
"Nice car, Commander," Dani commented.
"1968 Corvette," he told Dani proudly, while Mac rolled her eyes, "And please call me Harm."
"Sure thing, Harm," Dani drawled and they walked into the building together. Harm headed straight to his office while Mac and Dani stopped to get her visitor's ID. With the badge secured on the edge of her shirt, Dani followed Mac to her office. Just after they entered, Tiner appeared in the doorway, "Ma'am."
"Yes, Tiner," Mac set down her briefcase and looked up.
"The admiral wants to see you in his office."
"Thanks," she turned to Dani, "Be back in a bit."
"No problem," she watched her leave.
"You must be the major's sister," Tiner lingered in the doorway.
"Dani Korsakoff," she walked over to shake his hand.
"Petty Officer Jason Tiner."
"So what is it that you do here? Are you a lawyer?"
"No, ma'am,"
"Well, I'm not a ma'am," she smiled flirtatiously, making him blush, 'Then what do you do?"
"I'm secretary to the admiral and run the office here at JAG. In other words, I do a lot of filing," he joked.
"Sounds like my job," Dani smiled, "I assist my aunt with her legal work for my family's business."
"Arkada Industries?"
"Yes, how did you know?"
"I've read about your family in the paper."
"Well, it's always nice to be recognized," she gave a slight laugh.
"Plane leaves at 0950," the admiral told them having just briefed them about the body found aboard the decommissioned aircraft carrier the USS Hornet in Alameda, California, "That won't be a problem, will it Major?"
"No, sir."
"All right then, dismissed."
"Aye, aye, sir!" Mac, Harm, and Bud said in unison before walking out.
"What about Dani ma'am?" Bud asked once they returned to the bullpen
"I guess she'll have to fend for herself," Mac looked over to see Tiner leaning against of the doorframe of her office, "She can do some sightseeing or something. Tiner, can I speak with my sister for a moment?"
"Yes, ma'am," he stood up straight, slightly flustered, "It was nice meting you, Dani."
"You too, Jason," she smiled, "We'll finish our conversation later."
"I'll look forward to it," he turned to Mac, "Ma'am."
"Tiner," she gave him an amused look.
"So, Mac," Dani watched him return to his desk, "What's up?"
"I see you achieved your goal for today," she walked over to her desk.
"And what would that be?"
"You're sightseeing plans," Mac smirked, "What were you two talking about?"
"Nothing much," she sat down across from the desk, "The weather."
"I'll bet."
"So, what did you have to tell me?" she changed the subject.
"I have to go out of town for a couple of days."
"Where are you going?"
"Alameda, California," Dani gave her a clueless look, "It's near San Francisco."
"When do you leave?"
"One hour and thirteen minutes."
"Good thing you're already packed."
"I feel terrible. I mean, we just met and now I'm flying to the opposite side of the country."
"Could be worse, you could be flying to the other side of the world," Dani joked, "Besides, someone need to be the protector of the innocents."
"I'm a lawyer investigation a murder that dates back to the Vietnam War."
"And this is your problem because?"
"The skeleton was found in the sealed hull of a decommissioned carrier."
"Interesting," she drummed her fingers on the arm of the chair, "So you'll be gone for the next three or four days?"
"Most likely."
"Well, you'll just have to come visit me in Virginia Beach," Dani decided brightly.
"If you insist," she laughed; thinking how nice a day walking along the boardwalk would be, "Since I made you check out of your hotel, you can still stay at my apartment until you leave."
"Thanks, but I'll probably just book a flight back tonight."
'It's your choice."
"I should get back home anyway. May I?" she gestured at Mac's computer.
"Sure," she allowed Dani to sit down.
"I mean, I do technically a have a job," she logged on to a travel website, "Even if it's just for my family."
"Work is work."
"I guess," she pulled a credit card out of her wallet, "I have a 2:57 flight from Dulles into Norfolk. Can I hang out here until then?"
"Shouldn't be a problem," Mac grabbed her briefcase, "I have to get going so I can pick up Harm and still make my flight."
"Pick him up?" she looked confused, "Wasn't he just here?"
"He had to run home to pack."
"You mean he doesn't have a packed bag with him at all times?" she teased.
"Nah, he's a sailor," Mac smirked, "All he has are golf clubs," she paused, her voice turning serious, "I'm really glad you came out here."
"Me too," they hugged, "You'll call me when you get back?"
"Of course."
"Bye Mac."
"By Dani."
"So what's Dani doing until you get back?" Harm asked as their plane took off.
"She has a flight back to Norfolk at 1500."
"So she's just going home?" he questioned disbelievingly.
"What was I supposed to do, Harm? Invite her to come along?"
"You could have asked the admiral for a few days leave."
"Dani doesn't qualify as a reason for emergency leave."
"She's a twenty-one year old sister that you just found out existed."
"And we'll see each other when I get back," she argued, "She understand that I have to work."
"That doesn't mean she doesn't want to spend time with you, Mac."
"We'll have lots of time for sisterly bonding when I get back," she paused briefly, "Besides, we're half-sisters, not Siamese twins. We don't have to spend every waking minute together," she noticed him staring at her with a look of slight disapproval, "What?"
"That bothers you, doesn't it?"
"You staring at me? Yeah."
"The fact that Dani's your half-sister."
"I have no problem with that."
"Really?" he pressed, "It doesn't bother you at all that Dani's living proof that your father cheated on your mother."
"No not really," she snapped a little loudly and dropped her voice to a harsh whisper, "Marital vows don't matter much to a kid when you watch your father beat the crap out of your mother on a weekly basis."
Harm remained silent and watched Mac stare blankly out the plane window. He wanted to reach out and tell her it's okay to be angry and that showing her emotions didn't make her weak. He wanted to comfort her and help her through all of this, but he and Mac weren't like that. They couldn't be. They were...well, he wasn't sure exactly what, but whatever they were always seemed to get in the way.
"Tiner!" the admiral's voice bellowed from inside of office.
"Excuse me," Tiner said quickly to Dani, who had been helping him file, before entering the admiral's office, "Sir?"
"This damn system is locking me out again," he complained, rolling his chair away from the keyboard, "Do something."
"Yes, sir," he sat down behind the computer and began to work.
"Well," the admiral prompted after a few minutes.
"I'm sorry, sir."
"The network's probably overloaded," Dani suggested from the doorway, "You need to reroute around it."
"And you are?" the admiral prompted.
"Dani Korsakoff," she reached out to shake his hand.
"Admiral A.J. Chegwidden," he greeted, "If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say you're Major MacKenzie's sister."
"That would be correct, sir," she smiled.
"Well, Dani, would you be able to do the rerouting or whatever so that I can have a functioning computer again?"
"If Tiner would move out of the way."
"Well, you heard the lady, Tiner, move," he ordered.
"Thanks," Dani sat down in the newly vacated chair and began typing. Within a couple of minutes she stood up, "That should keep you up and running for the rest of the day."
"Excellent," A.J. sat down before his no longer frozen screen, "Thank you."
"No problem."
"How much longer will you be loitering around this office?"
"I have a flight out of Dulles this afternoon," she looked worried, "That isn't a problem, is it?"
"No, not at all," he chuckled slightly, "I just wanted to know if I could call you any problems Tiner can't handle."
"I'd be glad to help, sir."
"If you need anything, just tell me, sir, and I'll get her," Tiner offered.
"All right then," he looked from Dani to Tiner, "It was nice meeting you. Dismissed."
"Sorry for butting in," Dani apologized once they were out of the office.
"Don't worry about it," he shook it off and joked, "The admiral is fully aware of my computer skills or lack thereof. Where did you learn about computers?"
"I broke my leg when I was ten and spent six weeks in bed, so my computer became my best friend."
"Well, next time I have any technical difficulties I'll have to call you."
"I'd like that."